Read My Mind
by a-little-glimmer
Summary: Dan was just a normal high school student, going about his normal life: going to class, talking to friends, crushing on a certain Phil Lester... but Phil's life wasn't normal at all. He had the power to read minds. He didn't use the power, of course, but after running into Dan in the hallway, literally, that certainly changed. hs au. eventual phan. twoshot.
1. Chapter 1

Phil had a secret. A big secret. Luckily, no one knew about it... but Phil knew everyone else's secrets. You see, Phil had a special ability. Kind of like a superpower, but different. Phil had the power to read minds. Everyone in his family could. It was a trait that was passed down through the generations, yet no one had an explanation for it. Perhaps there was something in their DNA that allowed them to hear other people's thoughts. Maybe it had something to do with magic. However, they couldn't research this phenomenon, obviously.

Now, I know what you're thinking. And no, this isn't a story about how Phil gets found by scientists who want to experiment on him. This is a love story. And, like most romances, it starts with a crush...

* * *

It was the day after winter break had ended. Every high school student had reluctantly returned to school, and Dan Howell, one of these students, was watching the seconds tick by as he zoned out and stopped listening to the teacher's lesson. Honestly, she expected everyone to pay attention the day after break? Dan was still on his schedule of staying up till 4am and sleeping in till noon. All he wanted to do was go _home_. Sadly, it was only about halfway through the day. Dan sighed at this; a few minutes later, the bell _finally_ rang.

He packed up his things as people started filing out of the classroom, then stood while slipping on his backpack. Normally Dan always sat in the back corner of the room, so he was the last one out the door. He made his way to the front of the room, staring down at his phone and not really looking where he was going, which was _probably_ why the second Dan walked out of the classroom, he ran smack into another person.

Dan's phone jumped out of his hand, landing facedown on the floor, and Dan almost fell with it, had it not been for the steadying hands that suddenly grabbed his shoulders. "Woah! Sorry about that, mate," the person said. Dan's heart skipped a beat. _Oh, god, please no.._ Dan thought, and he looked up through his eyelashes at the tall boy standing in front of him. Of course, it was the person Dan thought it was.

"Sorry - er, it's all right - no, um, I mean - sorry," Dan stammered out, blushing, stunned by the boy in front of him.

His name was Phil Lester. He was new that year, but it didn't take long for him to get settled at the school. Probably the most popular guy in school, Phil was gorgeous, and a fantastic football player. He and his friends were actually very nice people, so of course, everyone liked them. Including Dan. _Especially_ Dan.

Phil had been the subject of Dan's attention for the entire last semester. About a week into the school year, Dan first heard about Phil from his friends. A few days after that, Dan first saw Phil and his friends in the hallway. And just like that, Dan was captivated by him. It seemed every time he was around, Dan's eyes were glued to him. Over time, Dan noticed many things about Phil that other's didn't. The way his whole face lit up when he laughed. They way he stuck his tongue out when he smiled. The way his cheeks would tinge with pink whenever he was embarrassed.

"Er, here you go," Phil's voice snapped Dan back to reality. He looked down and realized Phil was holding his phone out towards him.

Dan flushed as he took the phone, pocketing it and trying to drive the thoughts of Phil out of his mind. "Thanks," he breathed.

"No problem. See you later, Dan," Phil said, and he turned and started walking in the direction he had been heading before Dan ran into him. _How does he know my name?_ Dan thought. However, Dan brushed it off, collected himself, and a few moments later followed Phil in the direction of his next class.

This next class was one of the new classes Dan was taking this semester, only a semester long. As Dan kept walking, he became aware that he was following Phil. _Maybe our next classes are just near each other.._ But no, a minute later, Phil turned into Dan's next classroom. _You have got to be kidding,_ Dan thought. _Ok, just be cool, be cool_.. He walked into the classroom. _Are you seriously giving yourself the 'be cool' talk? Jesus fucking Christ, Dan, get a grip on yourself._ Dan started to walk to the back of the room, and he spotted Phil chatting to someone between a few desks. Phil caught Dan's eye, and gave him a small smile as Dan passed. Dan gave a tentative, awkward smile back. _That was not being cool!_ Dan yelled at himself while he slipped into the desk. Thankfully, the bell rang before he could melt into a puddle of humiliation, and the teacher walked in, further distracting him. "Alright, class, take a seat!" The teacher called. Dan's eyes followed Phil as he went to sit at a desk just diagonal from his. _That's not going to be distracting at all..._

* * *

Phil walked through the hallway, the buzz of students' thoughts humming in the back of his mind. He had had this ability to read people's minds his entire life, and over time Phil had managed to learn more about it. Phil discovered he could hear everyone's thoughts around him, but learned to ignore them as much as possible. However, he could focus in on what one person was thinking, and hear their thoughts quite clearly. It became easier to read one person's mind the more Phil had listened to that person. While he was listening to one person's thoughts, it was like he was _in_ that person's mind. if he chose to, he could think something and the other person would hear it as well.

Phil was walking down the hallway, when suddenly, a boy walked out of a classroom and straight into him. It became clear why when the boy's phone slipped out of his hand onto the floor. Phil's reflexes kicked in, and he quickly grabbed the boy's shoulders to steady him before he fell. "Woah, sorry about that, mate," Phil said. The boy just stared at him as he stammered out a reply. Though Phil normally didn't read people's minds (he thought it was a rude invasion of their privacy), something about this boy intrigued him, and Phil wanted to know what the boy was thinking. Phil almost instantly picked the boys 'voice' out of the hum of thoughts always present. Then scenes of himself flashed through Phil's mind.

Always from afar, these memories ranged from months ago to weeks ago. This boy (Dan, Phil picked out from his thoughts), seemed to have quite a few of them. Phil's smile, Phil's laugh, Phil blushing, Phil talking. It was quite clear Dan had a crush on Phil. Phil started to blush a bright red, and he reached down to pick up Dan's phone for something to do. "Er, here you go," he said awkwardly, holding out the phone. Dan thanked him. "No problem. See you later, Dan," Phil said, and he quickly headed to his next class.

 _How does he know my name?_ Phil realized he was still listening to Dan's thoughts, and that he slipped up calling Dan by his name. But he didn't stop reading Dan's mind. There was just something about him.. Maybe it was because Dan had a crush on Phil, and Phil wanted to see what Dan saw. Or maybe it was because Phil thought Dan was cute, too...

Phil kept Dan's thoughts in the back of his mind throughout his walk to his next class. Mostly he was thinking about Phil, little things Phil had done Dan thought were cute. Dan kept getting distracted by other things happening in the hallway, and Phil thought it was really interesting to hear his perspective. After Phil had turned a few hallways, it seemed Dan had done the same. He heard Dan trying to convince himself they may not have the same class next period. _Why doesn't he want to have a class with me? I thought he liked me?_ Phil thought.

A few seconds later, Phil arrived at his class and walked in. _You have got to be kidding_ , he heard Dan think. _Okay, so we do have the same class_ , Phil thought amusedly. "Phil!" A voice called. Phil looked around the room and found his friends Gabe and Ethan standing by some desks. "Hey, guys!" Phil walked over to them and joined their conversation, but registers Dan's thoughts in the back of his mind. _Just be cool, be cool.._ Dan was thinking. Phil grinned at Dan's thoughts. Then Dan walked in the doorway. Phil watched Dan walk toward him, and when he passed, their eyes met. Phil smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way, but Dan gave a nervous half-smile back as he passed. _Ok, I see why he didn't want to have a class with me,_ Phil thinks. _He's so awkward and nervous.. but that just makes him even cuter._ Phil smiled again in spite of himself. "Phil?" Gabe looked at him weirdly, and Phil remembered that he was standing by his friends. "Nothing." Phil gave a little shake of his head, and Gabe turned back to Ethan.

Then the teacher walked in and called for the students to take their seats. Phil looked around for an open seat, and spotted one just diagonal from Dan's. _If I sit there I could hear his thoughts better,_ Phil mused. _Phil! I thought you didn't like listening to other people's thoughts._ He scolded himself as he sat down. _Yeah.. but_ _Dan's different,_ another part of his brain protested. Phil laughed internally as he heard Dan's thoughts about Phil's choice of seating. How did he never notice Dan before? Well, he tried not to make a habit of listening to his classmate's thoughts. That was going to change...

A/N: hey guys! hope you enjoyed this fic. i got the idea to write this from the writing prompts page on instagram, i hope you liked the first chapter! next one to come soon, i promise. don't forget to review, follow, and favorite, and please check out my other stories! i published a oneshot a few weeks ago i'm really proud of so id love it if you could check it out uwu (oH god i've been using that ironically how did it turn into part of my vocabularyy) ~l


	2. Chapter 2

three months later

 _This is so fucking boring,_ Dan thought about halfway through his teacher's lesson. _Why do we even need to know about photosynthesis? It's not like I'm a self aware fucking plant. Fucking self aware plant? Whatever. It's not like I have any desire to be a fucking plant scientist, but this fucking school is still making me take FUCKING Biology. ..I swear too much._ His thoughts drifted up and away from focusing on the lesson, and his hand gradually stopped taking notes.

 _Honestly, there's about a million things I'd rather be doing than sitting here,_ his thoughts continued, and he brought his free arm up on its elbow to rest his chin in his hand. _I'd love to just get up and walk out of here._ Dan recalled once when his English teacher talked about the norms of school and such. Everyone is taught to go in the classroom, sit down at a desk, and listen to the teacher. No one would even think to sit on a table, even, lay on the floor, or just stand up and walk out in the middle of class. They'd all been taught what to do from an early age, and doing anything else is simply unthinkable. _What would happen if I just stood up and punched Mr. Klemp in the face? Would he fight back or just let me hit him? Would people try to stop me?_

 _What if I just stood up and just took off all my clothes, or started belting out the Star Spangled Banner, or declared my love for Phil?_ Phil's eyes unconsciously widened as he heard his name suddenly appear in Dan's thoughts. He was so intrigued with what Dan was thinking about he forgot himself and the school, and how Dan had a crush on him. Although he did pop up in Dan's thoughts many times throughout the course of the day, it was still surprising to hear such things.

 _What if I just walked over and planted a big fucking kiss on him. I'd probably get suspended.. would I go to jail? Is that like assault? A-salt. A-salt and a-battery. ..I was thinking about Phil._ Dan did a quick skim back through his train of thought and looked diagonal across the aisle at Phil. _Jesus fuck, he's hot._ A blush began to spread across Phil's cheeks and he tried to look like he was diligently taking notes as some, er, M-rated thoughts about what Dan would do to him, or more appropriately, what he would do to Dan in their alone time consumed Dan's mind. Phil felt really guilty he was listening in on Dan's personal thoughts, but for some reason, he just couldn't stop. It's not like he was _enjoying_ listening to them, definitely not..

 _What the fuck, Dan,_ Dan thought after a minute. _What is wrong with you. You're in the middle of class, for Christ's sake! You need Jesus. Imagine if someone could hear what you were thinking, what would they say?! Well, that's impossible. Like time travel. Grandfather paradox and all that._ Dan imagined a brief scene where he was arguing with someone over time travel. _You know it's impossible. But.._ Dan's mind suddenly went quiet as he read over his notes for a moment. And then, _AHHH!_ He yelled the thought.

The sudden noise reverbrated through Phil's mind like a ping pong ball, and he reflexively jumped at his desk. _Holy shit,_ Dan thought with wide eyes as he saw Phil flinch. _Did I just-? Did that just-?_ _._ _No, you know mind reading's impossible. Idiot. He just got a hot flash. Cold flash. Fell asleep at his desk for a second._ Dan tried to come up with an explanation for Phi's sudden jump. _It was just a coincidence._ Dan then actually tuned in to what his teacher was saying, and it wasn't until several minutes later when he did the same thing - just screamed in his head, and again, Phil jumped.

 _Holy shit,_ Dan thought again, _that is_ not _a coincidence. He's definitely reading my mind! Okay, you're being ridiculous. Or not. Oh god, what if he actually_ can _read minds and knows everything I was thinking about him! I have to think something sexy at him._ Phil smiled despite the situation. _Wait, he can hear that, oh shit shit shit, FUCK, what do I do?! Okay, no, you're forgetting that this is impossible. You're being insane._ Dan went back and forth several times, until finally Phil decided to put him out of his misery. Besides, Phil figured his cover was basically blown anyway. So..

 _You're not crazy,_ he thought quietly in Dan's mind. Dan's head snapped toward Phil, who was just staring straight ahead and biting his lip.

 _Oh my god. This isn't real, please tell me I'm just hearing voices,_ Dan thought.

Phil glanced back toward Dan, and their eyes locked. _You're not hearing voices._

 _Holy shit._

 _You've said that three times now._

 _Wait - so you can read minds. And you heard me, just now._

Dan was staring at Phil in shock, but somehow, Phil managed a smirk and a quirked eyebrow. _What, the yelling? Thanks for that, by the way._

"Phil! Pay attention, please!" The teacher called. Phil cringed and faced forward again.

 _Oh god. How long have you been listening?_ Dan thought in horror.

Phil bit his lip again. _Er, a while.._ He thought so Dan could hear.

 _Nononono, this is not happening, fuckfuckfuck..._

 _You really_ do _need to stop swearing._

 _Get out of my mind!_ Dan shrieked. Under normal circumstances, Dan would never even _slightly_ raise his voice at Phil, but these were not normal circumstances, were they?

 _I'm sorry, I'm sorry!_ Phil hastily apologized before concentrating on someone else's mind, some random girl that sat in front of him who was thinking about a party she was going to that weekend. Dan could feel Phil's presence leave his mind, just a very slight change, like a very faint mist lifting from the air.

 _Oh my god, that actually happened,_ Dan thought in shock. _Did that happen?_ _That happened. He needs to explain what the fuck is going on! Oh god, he_ must _know I have a crush on him! I swear to God I'll kill myself if he knows what I was thinking about him..._ Dan buried his face in his hands in humiliation, right there in class, not even caring if anyone saw him.

Phil didn't enter Dan's mind again that period, but the moment the bell rang Phil quickly shoved his things in his bag and followed Dan out the door, also making a hasty exit, while cringing at the look on Dan's face - a mixture of fear, panic, embarrassment, and something else Phil couldn't quite place. Curiosity, maybe? Or maybe that affection, that longing, Phil knew Dan held towards him.

Dan ducked into a small men's bathroom in the hallway, and Phil quickly mimicked Dan's move through the door a few seconds later. Dan was staring at his reflection in the mirror while leaning over the counter, and he quickly whirled around once Phil's reflection appeared behind his.

"What do you want?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady but a slight quiver in his voice and his wide eyes gave way to the inner turmoil he was experiencing.

"I just want to talk," Phil pleaded. He felt really guilty about what he did. "And clear some things up about, you know, what happened back there."

"You mean.. the..." 'Mind-reading incident' sounded too crazy to even put into words. Dan considered thinking it, but a, he didn't trust his unfiltered brain, and b, he knew Phil well enough to know that Phil would never read his mind again after being told not to.

However, Phil knew what he was going to say: "The.. Yeah..." He trailed off and bit his lip. Phil just stood there awkwardly while Dan leaned back on the counter, the air between them filled with tension.

"So, you.. you can read minds?" Dan phrased the statement as a question.

"Er, yeah. I wanted to apologize for that, too."

"Uh, thanks, I guess. But..." Dan's curiosity won over his personal concerns, so first he simply asked, "How?"

"I don't know," Phil replied. "I just.. can. People's thoughts are like little voices that are always there. Normally I tune them out, but sometimes I listen in."

"And, um, how long have you been 'listening in'?"

"Well, I've been able to for as long as I can remember."

"What about with.. my thoughts?" Dan cringed at how awkward he sounded.

"Er... remember the first day we met?" Phil offered a sheepish smile as Dan's eyes widened with horror.

 _"_ And _how often_ , exactly, do you do it?" Dan demanded.

Phil remained silent; he didn't have a good answer other than 'constantly'. Over the past few months, it had become easier and easier to pick out Dan's thoughts and listen to them, to the point where he could hear Dan's thoughts when he was at home. Phil was ashamed to admit it, but basically whenever he had free time or was bored, Phil would listen to Dan.

"Oh my god." Phil's silence was answer enough; Dan could draw conclusions himself as to what it meant. He couldn't even begin to imagine what horrible, uncensored Dan thoughts Phil had heard, but focused on the thing specific to Phil he had specifically wanted to keep secret. "So.. you know.. how I feel about you?" Dan forced out with his eyes glued to the floor, cringing again as he gnawed on the inside of his cheek.

Phil took a small step closer to Dan. "Yeah. And... I know how _I_ feel about you."

Dan took a sharp inhale and looked up at Phil through his eyelashes. "Which is?"

A sudden smirk took over Phil's lips. "Let's just say I wouldn't say 'no' to trying some of the things you were thinking in class."

Dan's mouth fell open. He quickly closed it, opened and closed it a few times, licked his lips, swallowed thickly, and licked his lips again before finally speaking. "Are you reading my mind right now?"

Phil furrowed his brow slightly and the smirk fell of his face in confusion. "No, why?"

"Do it."

Phil obliged, and it didn't take long to pick out the one thought Dan was thinking: _Kiss me._

They didn't notice when the bell rang.

A/N: hey y'all! hope you enjoyed this twoshot, please leave a review with what you think and favorite if you liked it, it really means a lot to me. also my pm's are always open if anyone wants to chat :) ~l


End file.
